the sandbaggers

The Sandbaggers ran for three series, and twenty episodes, between 1978 and 1980. Hailed by the New York Times as “the best spy series in television history” it’s a show that eschews the glamour of James Bond and instead is located at the more realist end of the genre, alongside the likes of Callan and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.

The series was created, and largely written by, Ian Mackintosh. Mackintosh, a former naval officer, penned all the episodes from the first two series as well as four from series three. However, during production of the third series, the plane he was piloting went missing near Alaska and neither Mackintosh, or his girlfriend, were ever found. The authenticity of The Sandbaggers has led many people to suppose that Mackintosh had previously worked for the intelligence services and some also believe that his disappearance was not a simple accident.

His loss meant that several other authors were drafted in to provide episodes for the third series, but without Mackintosh’s guiding hand it was clearly felt that the series had run its course.

Rewinding back to the first episode of series one, First Principles acts as a strong introduction to many of the main characters. Neil Burnside (Roy Marsden) is always at the centre of the series. Burnside is the Director of Operations (D-Ops) for the Secret Intelligence Services (SIS). In order to carry out the numerous dirty jobs requested by his masters, he has three highly trained operatives, codenamed Sandbaggers.

Burnside is humourless, totally driven, somewhat arrogant and seems to exist only for his work. His marriage, to Belinda, foundered some time ago – although he still keeps in contact with his former father-in-law, Sir Geoffrey Wellingham (Alan MacNaughtan), who is the Permanent Undersecretary of State. They enjoy a sometimes cordial relationship which is rather frowned upon by Burnside’s immediate superior, Matthew Peele (Jerome Willis).

Peele is the deputy director of SIS and is clearly presented as a man who lacks field experience, which means he’ll often clash with Burnside over operational matters. Burnside previously served as a Sandbagger, so at least he understands the implications of the jobs he asks his men to carry out.

Head of the SIS is Sir James Greenley, referred to as “C” (Richard Vernon). “C” is a diplomat, and not from an intelligence background, so is initially viewed with suspicion by Burnside – although they do later form a good working relationship.

Jeff Ross (Bob Sherman) is head of the London Station of the CIA. Ross and Burnside are friends, although they’ll sometimes find themselves on opposite sides as their masters manipulate events for their own benefit.

As for the Sandbaggers, it’s a high risk job, so some last longer than others. The one who remains during all three series is Willie Caine (Ray Lonnen). Caine can be blunt and outspoken and isn’t content to follow Burnside’s orders blindly (as seen in this episode). Had the show ran to a fourth series, there were interesting hints as to how his character would have been developed, but sadly this came to nothing.

As the episode opens, we see Burnside walking through the streets of London. He stops from time to time, looks in shop windows, and then carries on walking. When he gets to the office he wonders exactly who was tailing him – whoever it was, they didn’t do a very good job. Caine says that he was tailed too, which raises a faint alarm bell with Burnside. He muses as to whether MI5 are using his men to train their recruits.

It turns out that the shadowers are from the fledgling Norwegian secret service. Burnside demands an explanation from their chief, Torvik (Olaf Pooley). Torvik apologies, but tells him that “you belong to the oldest and most respected secret service in the world. I have charge of a rather newer and less professional one.”

Torvik does have another motive though. The Norwegians have lost a spy-plane, which went down between the border between Norway and Russia. The plane and its occupants are now within the Russian border and Torvik wants the Sandbaggers to go in and rescue them. Burnside refuses, since it’s an incredibly dangerous mission that’s of no benefit to the SIS.

But Whitehall are keen. If the Sandbaggers mount the rescue, then the Norwegians will buy the British Nemesis missile. If the British refuse to help, the Norwegians will approach the Americans and buy their missile, the Warbonnet, instead.

Burnside’s far from happy, but he has no room for manuovure – so he reluctantly agrees. He doesn’t move quickly enough for Torvik though – and just as the Sandbaggers are due to parachute into Russia, Burnside is appalled to receive a message from Torvik requesting he abort the mission.

It’s far too late though, as they’re already on the ground. Ross fills him in on the details. Since Torvik believed that Burnside was dragging his feet, he approached the Americans – who set up their own operation to rescue the crew. This they managed to do, but they ran directly into a Russian patrol and were all captured – but at least it allows the Sandbaggers to creep away undetected to the border.

For Burnside, it’s a complete mess although Wellingham is able to look on the bright side – as it was the Americans who were caught and not the British, maybe the Norweigans would still be interested in the Nemesis missile. As Wellingham says, that after all, was what the mission was all about.

Burnside has one piece of unfinished business to attend to, as he tells Torvik exactly what is required to mount a Special Operation and his speech stands as a mission statement for the series.

Special Operations doesn’t mean going in with all guns blazing. It means special planning, special care. Fully briefed agents in possession of all possible alternatives. If you want James Bond, go to your library. But if you want a successful operation, sit at your desk and think. And then think again. Our battles aren’t fought at the end of a parachute. They’re won and lost in drab, dreary corridors in Westminster.

Torvik suggests they have a drink, but Burnside tells him that “if I had a glass in my hand at the moment I’d shove it down your throat.” Burnside is many things, but a diplomat he is not.

First Principles is a decent opening episode. It’s true that the Russian/Norweigan border looks suspiciously like the English countryside, but you’ll have to get used to various foreign countries bearing a remarkable similarly to locations much closer to home (although they do manage foreign filming, in Malta, for a couple of episodes).

A Proper Function of Government is an archetypal episode of The Sandbaggers – low on action but high on character and debate. Although there is a mooted mission in Africa as well as an actual one in Vienna, the majority of the story is firmly based at the SIS HQ in London (and the brief scenes in Vienna were obviously not filmed there).

There’s plenty of pointers here about the character of Neil Burnside. He’s quite happy to take decisions independently (sending one of the Sandbaggers to Iran, for example) without first consulting his immediate superior, Peele. Peele has found out, but Burnside is able to talk him round. Since neither Peele or “C” have any operational experience, Burnside is happy to trust his judgement over theirs and make unilateral decisions. This is something that will cause him problems in the episodes to come ….

There are two main plot-threads in A Proper Function of Government. The first concerns Sir Donald Hopkins (Lawrence Payne) who is the chief scientific advisor to the government. He’s currently on leave and his leave form stated he would be fishing in Scotland. But he’s been seen in Vienna – which raises the possibility that he’s preparing to defect.

Burnside approaches Wellingham to break the possible bad news. Wellingham is appalled – Sir Donald is a personal friend and he finds it difficult to believe he could be a traitor. Sir Donald Hopkins is portrayed as a typical establishment figure, with many friends in high places (including the Prime Minister). The year after this episode was broadcast, Anthony Blunt was exposed as a Russian spy, although his treachery had been known in intelligence circles for many years prior to this. If Ian Mackintosh did have links with the intelligence community, then it’s possible that Hopkins was inspired by Blunt’s case.

The second plot-thread concerns a small African state headed by President Lutara. He’s no friend of Britain and during the last year has executed several British citizens. The latest murder brings back unhappy memories for Willie, which he relates to Sandbagger Three, Alan Denison (Steven Grivies).

About three and a half years ago, the boss was Sandbagger One, I was number two and Sandbagger Three was a lad called Bob Judd. He was younger than you are. It was the last time we lost a Sandbagger, so we do remember it quite well. He died in East Africa – one of Lutara’s ant-hills. He was alive when they put him on top of it, but they cut his stomach open and the ants found the cut. And there was nothing we could do about that. Not even Neil Burnside could go for a head of state without permission.

Maybe the latest death will push the government into action? Again, this is something that could have been taken from the headlines. Stories of covert operations, such as the one Willie hopes to mount, have been rife for decades. Willie, of course, wants to lead the mission (if one is agreed). He makes this quite clear to Burnside, but Burnside has an agenda of his own.

He dispatches the two Sandbaggers in London to Vienna – so that they can monitor Hopkins. He’s clearly done this deliberately, so that he can request the Lutara mission himself. For a Head of Operations to go back into the field is unusual, to say the least, and Burnside is prepared to play every card he has in order to get his own way. He sets up a meeting with Wellingham and tells him that he’ll go back to Belinda (his ex-wife and Wellingham’s daughter) if the mission is approved and he’s selected to carry it out. This is a good insight into the single-minded focus of Burnside – he’ll do anything to achieve the result he requires.

In the end, it comes to nothing as the government refuses to green-light the mission. “C” tells Peele and Burnside that the Prime Minster doesn’t approve of political assassination. “He does not consider assassination to be a proper function of government.”

Later, Wellingham authorises Hopkins to be picked up. He tells them that “the Prime Minster made a good point. He feels that Hopkins might start shouting on the way back. Say as he’s going through immigration and customs. Declare himself for what he is and tell the world he’s being forced out of Austria by the Secret Service. It would be almost as damaging to the government as if he actually defected.” Wellingham spells it out – they have authority to kill him.

Burnside is quick to point out the paradox. “We can’t knock over a lunatic who’s murdering ever day, but a man who threatens the government’s future, all the jobs and the perks that go with it, not only authority to assassinate, but instant authority.”

Late on, there’s a spellbinding scene between Roy Marsden and Alan McNaughtan. Willie Caine’s reason for wishing to take the Lutara mission has already been established – but Wellingham knows that Burnside isn’t interested in vengenace for Bob Judd. The sucessful assassination of Lutara would have significantly increased Burnside’s chances of promotion – and he judged that not only was a dangerous mission (where he might be killed) was worth it, he was also prepared to restablish a relationship with a woman that he clearly no longer loves. For Burnside, the SIS is his whole life.

This is an absorbing fifty minutes of drama, which sets up many of the character dynamics and conflicts which we’ll see play out as the series progresses.

Is Your Journey Really Necessary? opens in the Ops Room, where Burnside, Caine and the others are following the progress of Operation Nightingale. Burnside mounted it as a favour for the CIA, but it ends in tragedy for the Sandbaggers.

Afterwards, “C” and Burnside have a postmortem meeting. “C” tells him that the mission was carried out without departmental or political clearance. Burnside is unabashed and also explains that Landy was killed on his orders. “To avoid giving the FCO and Number 10 the excuse they need to tie the other hand behind my back.”

When Denison returns, Caine offers him another reason why Landy had to die – if he’d been captured, then he would have been tortured, exhibited on a show-trial and executed. At least this way it was quick.

It’s interesting that there are only ever three Sandbaggers (agents trained to carry out “special” operations). With the whole of the globe to cover, this does mean that they are invariably spread very thin. The loss of Landy is therefore bad, but when Denison breaks the news he wants to quit, it throws Burnside into a tail-spin.

Denison wants to get married and doesn’t feel that he can carry on as a Sandbagger once he has a wife. Whilst Burnside is cordial to his face, behind his back he makes it quite clear to Caine they’re going to keep him, by whatever means necessary.

The obvious problem is Denison’s girlfriend, Sally Graham (Brenda Cavendish). She’s already been vetted, but Burnside wants her watched and he wants some dirt on her. The first couple of episodes have already demonstrated just how ruthless Burnside can be, but here it moves to a whole new level.

Caine follows Sally and photographs her enjoying a meal and staying the night with a male friend (whilst Denison is out of the country on a mission). At the same time, Burnside burgles her flat to look for anything incriminating. He’s happy with Caine’s pictures, as whilst Caine says they don’t prove anything, Burnside isn’t concerned with that. “I’m not interested in proof. Suspicion’ll do me.”

Burnside corners Sally, shows her the pictures and tells her to break off the relationship with Denison. Although Sally denies anything happened, Burnside brushes this off and then chillingly tells her “I can have you taken off the streets, drugged, stripped and into bed with a dozen different men. Then I can have you done for soliciting, shoplifting, breaking the Official Secrets Act.” And given what we’ve seen of him, it’s possible to believe this is no idle threat.

Events then take a tragic twist. Denison calls Sally to tell her he’s reconsidered and wants to stay with the Sandbaggers. Sally, still upset from her meeting with Burnside, doesn’t take the news at all well. Shortly afterwards we learn that Denison is dead – he wasn’t killed on the mission, he was knocked down by a car in a simple accident. As Caine says, he obviously had things on his mind. And it’s interesting that we don’t even see this, as his death happens off-screen.

So in the course of one episode, two members of the Sandbaggers have died. First time viewers would probably have expected that both of these characters would be regulars, so their deaths are something of a jolt. In the last episode we were told that the previous Sandbagger fatality happened three and a half years ago. That was clearly a wrong-footing move to lull the audience into a false sense of security, as here we see just how dangerous the job of a Sandbagger can be. Or are we meant to consider the culpability of Burnside? He’s only been D-Ops for a short while, therefore both deaths occured on his watch.

Sally is also dead – from an overdose of sleeping pills. Although Burnside didn’t think he was too hard on her, it was obviously more than enough to push her over the edge. Had Burnside agreed to let Denison go, then they probably would have both still been alive. His decision to fight to keep him indirectly resulted in both of their deaths.

This is a bleak, bleak tale that brings into question the judgement of Neil Burnside. And it certainly won’t be the last time that he’ll have the deaths of colleagues on his conscience ….

There’s a lot going on in The Most Suitable Person. Firstly, Des Yardley, a member of the Morocco station, is found murdered in Gibraltar. He’s normally based in Tangier, so his presence in Gibraltar is a mystery – as is the reason for his death. Burnside elects to send Willie Caine to investigate. He knows that Caine isn’t the world’s best investigator, but he’s good at stirring things up – and this should enable him to flush out the murderer.

With Caine in Gibraltar, this makes finding replacements for Landy and Denison ever more pressing. The problem is that Burnside has exacting standards and there doesn’t seem to be any trainees even remotely suitable. Out of the current crop of active SIS agents, Caine knows that Colin Grove (Jonathan Coy) is very keen to join the special section, but Burnside is dismissive – he doesn’t think he’s even remotely suitable. And when Bob Sherman tells him that Grove has been seeing a Hungarian psychiatrist, it raises the possibility that he’s a serious security risk – with both British and American secrets potentially passed over to a hostile power.

In addition to the mysterious death of Yardley and the investigation into Grove’s conduct we also have a third element to the story, the newest recruit to the Sandbaggers – Laura Dickens (Diane Keen). Laura is by far the best of the new recruits, but Caine knows that the boss isn’t going to like it – because she’s a woman.

Laura Dickens (Diane Keen)

Burnside reluctantly agrees to see her (and there’s a nice moment when, just before she enters his office, he tidies up his desk and straightens his tie!). He asks her if she’s interested in joining the special section and she tells him no, she’s not. Her cool dismissal of a posting that most people would give almost anything to achieve, clearly intrigues him. Laura explains the reasons why.

I’ve never been very good at playing Cowboys and Indians. You see, I can’t help feeling that special sections exist because they create work for each other. You manipulate yours, so the other side manipulate theirs. It may keep everybody happy but what does it achieve in the long term?

It’s her belief that she’s wrong for the job than convinces Burnside that she’s exactly right. “Volunteers for the special section usually see themselves as James Bond. I’d rather have someone, male or female, who sees the job in perspective. A while ago I tried to change the name, special section, into something less evocative. As far as I’m concerned it’s only special because few people are right for it.”

Laura agrees to join the Sandbaggers on a temporary secondment – until Burnside can find permanent replacements for Sandbaggers Two and Three. He then dispatches her to Tangier in order to discover what Yardley was working on. Before she goes, he gives her his personal phone number and tells her she can use it to contact him anytime. Professional or personal business? The Burnside/Laura relationship begins here, and it’s something that will be a prime focus of the remaining series one episodes.

Meanwhile, Willie’s following up leads in Gibraltar (actually it’s filmed, like most of the foreign locations in the series, around the Manchester area!). He gets to experience a bit of gunplay – although it’s clear that The Sandbaggers isn’t aiming at James Bond-style glamour and action. When Caine returns a borrowed car to Detective Chief Inspector Gomez (Stephen Grief), he offers to clean it first – because he’s been sick in it (following the gun battle). It’s a small character beat that helps to highlight that even the most experienced of agents are subject to normal stresses and strains.

The three plot-threads of this episode does mean that it feels a little fragmented and subsequently it’s not as compelling a drama as say, Is Your Journey Really Necessary?. Laura’s introduction is the obvious highlight and she quickly proves to be a more than capable officer – she uncovers the reason for Yardley’s trip to Gibraltar and this information helps to foil a terrorist attack on a passenger plane.

The truth about Grove is also established, which allows Burnside the satisfaction of getting one up on MI5. He explains this to Peele at the end of the episode, thereby giving Jerome Willis a nice character moment. Willis was absent from the previous episode, and is only on the periphery in this one, which is a shame as he was always a very watchable actor. But the next episode does offer him a little more scope ….

The M.O.D. are concerned about a Russian merchant vessel called the Karaganda. They believe it may be a spy ship and want Burnside’s help to investigate it. He considers that the Royal Marines and the S.B.S. (Special Boat Service) would be the best people for the job and refuses. The Director General of Intelligence at the M.O.D. (Gerald James) threatens to go over his head, but Burnside, as usual, isn’t intimidated.

Back at HQ, we see Peele visit Burnside in his office. It’s interesting to see how Caine and Burnside react. Caine immediately stands up when Peele enters the room but Burnside doesn’t. Since Peele outranks Burnside he should have stood up too, but he’s clearly got no time for such formalities. He’s even less time for Peele’s request that they need to reduce the special section’s travel costs by 10%. “If they go first class they arrive fit, if they go economy they arrive tired. The difference could be their lives.”

Once again, Burnside ridicules Peele’s lack of operational experience. Although Peele was the one-time head of the Hong Kong station, Burnside retorts that “the only thing you put at risk was your liver.” This initial spat is merely the prelude for the main part of the episode, as we see Peele and Burnside once more cross swords.

Hamad (Peter Miles) is the Crown Prince of a small Middle Eastern nation. He’s approached Wellingham and asked for his help in engineering a coup and thereby removing his father (a pro-Russian supporter) from power. Wellingham is keen to assist, for various reasons. “We help him get rid of his father, he turns the Sheikdom pro-West. Buys British weapons, gets a British firm to build the new refinery.”

There’s no two ways about it – Peter Miles isn’t of Middle Eastern descent. Sixties and Seventies television were full of British actors playing various nationalities (of varying believability) and The Sandbaggers was to be no differerent. It’s difficult to take Peter Miles (especially when he’s slightly browned-up) that seriously, which is a slight problem. Also noticeable is the scene in Wellingham’s club, just after we’ve seen Hamad for the first time. Roy Marsden’s face seems to be caked in orange make-up. It’s very odd and doesn’t re-occur elsewhere during the story.

Anyway, back to the story. Wellingham is keen to press ahead as quickly as possible, but Burnside is cautious. He made his position clear in First Principles – a mission can only succeed when there’s clear and solid information. At present, too much is unknown. Most importantly, is it known for sure that Hamad would be sympathetic to the British government? To overthrow a dictator and then put somebody worse in their place is far from desirable.

Burnside outlines some of the essential information he requires to Peele. “How much support does Hamad have in the country, how well organised is it and how quickly can it be rallied?” Burnside isn’t impressed by Peele’s statement that they should move ahead simply because Wellingham wants it to happen. “To hell with Wellingham, he’s feathering his own nest as usual.”

In order to try and answer the question as to where Hamad’s sympathies lie, Burnside elects to find out by using Laura’s undeniable feminine charms. But before this, they have a typically stormy meeting – Laura tells him she wants to leave the Sandbaggers at the earliest possible opportunity (mainly because he’s their boss). Burnside responds by calling her a bitch once she’s exited the office. Caine cheerfully tells Burnside that they’re clearly both in love with each other – they just don’t know it yet.

Laura makes an immediate impression on Hamad by rolling over her car in front of his. They quickly begin a relationship and he seems besotted with her. Peter Miles’ staccato delivery is oddly unnerving and the casual clothes that Hamad wears when they go bowling are interesting, shall we say. Diane Keen does her best and it’s a memorable part of the story, but possibly not for the right reasons.

Much better is a scene between Burnside and Laura at his flat. The fact she’s there at all is noteworthy – as you get the impression that not many people are invited around. There’s some nice playing from both Marsden and Keen here. Maybe Willie was right and there is a spark of attraction, but who will make the first move?

Burnside goes to make coffee and opens up a little. “All of us have aspects of our lives with which it’s difficult to cope. In the office, I’ve learnt to survive. At home, I’m unprotected – from visitations, faces, eyes, voices. Two more in the last few weeks.”

As the preparations for the proposed coup go ahead, Peele is dismayed to find the M.O.D. dragging their feet. When he’s told it’s because Burnside refused to help them over the Karaganda, he promises to get it sorted, which he does – much to Burnside’s disgust.

Burnside’s slow and methodical information gathering regarding Hamad is proved to be the prudent course – eventually it’s proved that had the British intervened it would have been disastrous. The Karaganda was discovered to have an underwater hatch as an outlet for divers, so according to Peele it’s shared honours. “You were right about Hamad, I was right about the Karaganda.” Burnside’s reply is cutting and it looks as if his frosty relationship with Peele isn’t going to thaw any time soon.

Always Glad To Help has some nice character touches for Burnside and an impressive car stunt (when Laura overturns her Mini in front of Hamad). As I’ve said, Peter Miles is a bit of a weak link, but that’s more down to his miscasting then anything else. Otherwise it’s typical Sandbaggers – the majority of the battles we see in the series aren’t fought overseas, but rather closer to home – and with words, not guns.

A top missile engineer, Professor Colby (Donald Churchill), has disappeared in Cyprus. When news filters through that a Russian expert in missile guidance has also gone missing, it starts alarm bells ringing. Burnside, Laura and Willie kick around possibilities about who could have taken them. In the end it seems that a group operating in Cyprus, such as the Greek Cypriot National Front, are the most likely suspects. Smuggling missiles into or out of Cyprus would be tricky – much better to have them prepared inside the country.

Another complication occurs when the deputy head of station in Cyprus is brutally killed. Logically, it makes no sense – until now it was only a theory that forces within Cyprus were responsible for kidnapping the scientists, but this murder seems to prove it. Burnside dispatches Caine to Cyprus and he’s accompanied by the replacement deputy, Jill Ferris (Sarah Bullen).

Wille’s not happy about minding a woman, but she quickly proves to be more than capable – which raises his suspicions, as she’s supposed to be fresh out of the training school. The answer is that she’s a Russian agent, who’s disposed of the real Jill Ferris (the Russians also killed the previous deputy head of station, so they could replace him with one of their own). Since the Russians only have a limited presence in Cyprus it makes sense for them to work covertly with the SIS. For now, Caine is told to play along with her – which may be a problem as he seems to find her somewhat attractive.

A Feasible Solution is a somewhat unusual episode of The Sandbaggers since it features quite a heavy amount of gunplay and plenty of dead bodies. As soon as Caine and the bogus Jill Ferris arrive in Cyprus, they find themselves pitched into an intensive gun battle. It’s interesting to hear Willie say that he doesn’t really like guns and Burnside comments that it’s the first time in over a year that Willie Caine has been armed. Although he’s the chief Sandbagger, it seems that killing people isn’t something he particularly cares for – although he’s undoubtedly good at it.

Once again we see the UK doubling for a foreign country. It works quite well here – thanks to the fact that the sun shone when the filming took place. The soundtrack of chirping insects also helps to create the illusion of being abroad. The missing scientists are almost a Macguffin, since the thrust of this part of the story is concerned with the relationship between Willie and Jill, as well as providing us with a more action-orientated episode than is usual.

Back in the UK, Burnside pays a visit to the section psychiatrist Philip Jeremiah (Richard Cornish). Burnside tells him he’s convinced that Laura Dickens has some sort of hang-up and he wants to know what it is. Jeremiah replies that she has no hang-up which will affect her performance as a Sandbagger, but there is something. “She was dominated by her parents and told that all men are beasts, that sex is simply for the propagation of the species.”

The conclusion seems to be that Laura is very emotionally fragile. When Burnside asks how she would respond to kindness, say a dinner invitation, Jeremiah tells him not to try and hustle her into bed. “Incurable romantic” mutters Burnside in return. But he seems to have got the answer he wanted, and this is the clearest evidence yet that he’s interested in her as a person and not just as a Sandbagger.

Burnside and Laura have their dinner. It’s another good scene from Marsden and Keen, with Burnside acting somewhat hesitant (a departure from his usual gruff, professional attitude). When they return to his flat for a drink, she tells him that, given her past, he’ll have to be patient. He replies that he can be, and the scene ends with Burnside laughing. Which isn’t something you see every day!

By the end of the episode, he’s back to his usual, cold self though. Caine has returned – and he’s managed to rescue Professor Colby. The fake Jill Ferris also located the Russian scientist, Yugorov, although since he defected willingly she kills him. Caine and Ferris go their separate ways, much to Burnside’s annoyance. “You were alone with Colby and Yugorov whilst she made a dummy run with the ambulance. You didn’t think to put a bullet in Yugorov, blame it on the opposition? With Yugorov dead and out of the way, she’d have kept her cover and stayed on as the Cyprus number two and we could have fed her false information.”

A Feasible Solution is a good story for Ray Lonnen, as it allows us to see how well Caine works in the field. It also develops the Burnside/Laura relationship – which is going to be resolved in the next story, which was also the final story of the first series, Special Relationship.

An East German spy called Mittag (Brian Ashley) has obtained aerial photographs of a new missile complex which is probably targeting R.A.F. bases in West Germany. This information is vital, but there’s a problem – Mittag is convinced he’s under observation, so he won’t travel over to the West. Instead, he wants somebody to collect the pictures in person.

The question is, who? There seems to be a shortage of possibilities, as whoever goes has to be Berlin-orientated (i.e. able to pass themselves off as an East Berliner). Laura has all the qualifications, but Burnside is very reluctant to consider her. Is it because of their growing relationship or is there another reason?

Willie offers to go – although Burnside points out how foolish that would be, since he doesn’t speak German. He breezily says he’ll go over the Wall, and it’s clear that he’s made the offer to save Burnside from having to send Laura. Eventually, Burnside decides that Laura is the right person for the job, and she’s sent in. But the nightmare happens and she’s caught by the authorities, which leaves Burnside with a limited number of options, all of them bad.

Special Relationship is the ultimate example of how compartmentalised Neil Burnside is. There’s no doubt that he’s in love with Laura (he’s seen smiling several times in the early part of the episode, which is far from normal behavour) and after she’s detained he starts to make frantic attempts to secure her release. Given their relationship this is understandable, but there’s another reason. Before she was sent to East Berlin, Laura was briefed on the Hungarian networks – and if this information is extracted from her it could mean the deaths of dozens of people. Was this the real reason why Burnside was reluctant to send Laura in? As so often, there’s no “right” answer – maybe it’s a combination of this and his genuine feelings for her.

Time’s not on his side – within forty eight hours she’ll have told them everything she knows, so she has to be recovered before then. A swop would seem to be the best option, but there’s nobody currently held by the British who fit the bill. The French have somebody though, but will they agree to hand him over? They do, but the price is incredibly high – they want access to the information supplied to the British by the Americans (via the special relationship). They also want a signed agreement from “C” and Sir Geoffrey Wellingham confirming this.

If the Americans found out that their information was being passed over to the French it would be the end of the special relationship, but Burnside has no other options. He speaks to “C” first. “C” says that if they sign it, both he and Sir Geoffrey will be finished, politically. Burnside agrees, but tells him that his career is drawing to a close anyway. “C” concurs but ruefully muses that “I had hoped not to end mine in disgrace.” He reluctantly signs.

Sir Geoffrey is harder to convince. He’s still smarting over Burnside’s treatment of his daughter and even when Burnside tells him that he’s in love with Laura, Sir Geoffrey doesn’t believe him. “I think you’re lying Neil. The way you always lied, cheated, double-dealt to get your own way.” Burnside makes no defence of his past, but tells him he’s not lying this time. Sir Geoffrey signs as well.

So this is a three-cornered problem. Protect the Hungarian networks, maintain the special relationship and save Laura Dickens’ life. Two out of the three can be done, but not all. By this point in the story it should already be clear which will have to be sacrificed.

Laura is shot and killed at the rendezvous point before she’s exchanged for the Russian prisoner. Her death has saved the Hungarian networks and since the exchange didn’t go ahead it allows Burnside to declare the document drafted to the French null and void. So it’s Laura who was expendable, killed on Burnside’s command. It’s a powerful moment, with her dead body lying almost at Burnside’s feet. The split-second before she was shot we see her smile at him, which just twists the knife a little more.

Caine lashes out at Burnside. This event signals a change in their relationship which will be reflected in the following two series.

CAINE: You bastard! Why?
BURNSIDE: You know why. I had to get Laura away from them, into the open to save the Hungarians. To do that I had to set up the swap with …
CAINE: But why the hell didn’t you swap?
BURNSIDE: I couldn’t. The only way I could convince the Americans was by guaranteeing that there would be no swap. Look, you must see it Willie.

It’s another jarring move by Ian Mackintosh. Having killed off two Sandbaggers in Is Your Journey Really Necessary? it didn’t seem likely that another death would happen so soon. Everything looked to be set up to develop Laura’s character further, as she’d only featured in four episodes and there was still considerable scope for broadening her relationship with Burnside. Her sudden, brutal death brings this to an end – and it’s also an incredibly powerful way to bring the first series of The Sandbaggers to a close.